‘Thank you’: US Navy band stationed in Italy pays tribute to host country amid COVID-19 pandemic

US Navy band pays tribute to Italian allies and partners amid pandemic

Members of a US Navy band stationed in Italy played the Neapolitan song

Both of the countries may be under lockdown, but that doesn’t mean the United States and Italy can’t still jam out.

Based in Naples, Italy, the U.S. Naval Forces Europe Band dishes out anything from Top-40 hits to unique takes on international favorites throughout their stops across Europe and Africa.

The military ensemble band is composed of musicians from the U.S. Navy who are “augmented by foreign-service musicians from Italy who unite to fashion dynamic specialty units designed to fulfill almost any possible request for musical support.”

These days, those calls for support are likely limited, considering the global coronavirus pandemic has essentially squandered any hope of musical get-togethers happening in person.

So the band decided to pay tribute to their host country instead, gathering remotely via video chat and jamming out to “O Sole Mio,” a Neopolitan classic that was written back in 1898. The band has four members in total but some take up dual-instrument duties, making for a fully-functional performance.

“We dedicate our performance to our Italian allies and partners,” the band wrote in the caption for the April 7 video, which has received thousands of reactions and a slew of positive comments on Facebook.